About

I'm a cartographer, urbanist and author, and I live in New York City.  I grew up in San Francisco and lived in L.A. for a while before I landed in New York.  Most recently, I wrote a book called The Lost Subways of North America based on my acclaimed cartographic series of the same name, published by University of Chicago Press. I'm fascinated by how data visualizations - like maps - influence how we perceive the world around us.

I also have a day job as a lawyer.

I rely on a lot of archival research.  All of the maps in The Lost Subways are based on primary sources.  I've gotten some records from public records requests; others come from library research collections; a few are from the Internet Archive.  Once I have sufficient original material in hand, I research the visual language of the period I'm trying to depict.  It just doesn't feel right to use Helvetica to depict 1925 - much less 1865.

Once I have all that down, I start plotting the maps.  Initial drafts are done with pen and paper, and I do the final work in Adobe Illustrator.

I'm happy to talk about speaking engagements, custom art or writing gigs.  Shoot me an email.

All works are copyrighted by me, the artist, all rights reserved. If you’re interested in licensing my work, contact me.

My grandmother’s house was No. 53, and I borrowed her house number.